Machine for folding or plaiting fabrics



Oct. 13, 1931. J. NANTERME 1,827,150

MACHINE FOR FOLDING OR PLAITING FABRICS Filed Nav. 13, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 13, 1931. J. NANTERME 1,827,160

MACHINE FOR FOLDING OR PLAITING FABRICS Filed Nov. 1s, 1928 2 sheetsfsneet 2 37 www@ evenwith Patented Oct. 13,` 1931 PATENT oI-F-1lcE-- JosnrirNANrrmvrE, oFLYoN, FRANCE j Y y. mcHINnifon FOLDING on ri'inrrrive;l FABRICS `Application Med Novemberl, 1928, Serial No; 319,155and in France November24, 1927.

' Thepresent invention relates tomachines 'ffflln thismajchine, the vfabric is arran ZQ-maDnQaSSQGn aSthe.

. fabricsare folded whichgare manufactured 'i forl folding fabrics and.` more particularly, but not, entirely V:tothe machine described 1n ...my S. kLetterslfatent No.1,62-,060-

A u edon a folding board Vby meansI o fa suitab e distributor member, pressure bars. or members i being provided to flattendown the folds of thefabricA as thev folding is effected.

Y. 'l `hese.members do not give complete satisfaction with vticularly when the folding speed. yThe presser `members* 1n factdrive stiff ory uneven fabrics and par- A .the Iairtowards the centre ofthe folded piece,. .1 thus icausin wrinkles an.

the -formation of bulges, creases which are ultimately flattened down by the subsequent folding of .ythefabric V Moreover, they do not v "f .pull the foldfwhichis creased ina efective speed `increases or when ,i A(accordingtoy the use for which they are n- 4 tended)l v,with tight or loose'selvages.

.The improvement ofthe present invention 2'5. fallow s of the use-of high speeds for folding not very regularv fabrics, :thus ensuring' considerable saving of time and labour s while providing perfect folding.

According. to the-invention, near the edge @LLL of aV plait a member is arranged which eX- A ertsr'egular iso as tosmooth the y.fabric at the sametime V*that thej fold fis fbeing pressed. Inf the pre- 4friction on the edgetof the fold I ferred--f0rm of construction, this member 1s composed 'of a spatula elastically mounted ff onlams rotating ata suitable speed.

` The" annexed drawings illustrate an exam- -ple of construction of the invention it being 457 assumed that the," improvements are adapted f ce@ -to;'a"-machine of lthejkind described in my *j Fig'. 1v is afdiagrammati'c'side viewfof the ma'chine provided with presser bars accord- 'ingto'the'invention`.' f

y ig..2 is a d'agrammaticview of the1 other mer v i' Fig'. 3 isla section ona larger ifA-M-Figsl anda i v 5'9' is Va section on (Fig),`

drive. 4

is effected at highl f scale on linel Fig. 6 is a section on a large scale on linel C-C (Fig. 8), and showing the free wheel The machine 'is essentially composed bf La*l traction roller ldrawing the fabric, ofa distributorframe 2 land of-v a plaiting board 3 onwhich thefabric isfolded as can be .well understood from Fig. 4.

Each presser-.bar is essentially composed of a small board 5 mounted on arms 6 Y(Fig. 3) mounted loosely on a'rod A7. The rod 7 carries stop-fingers 8 againstwhich the board 5.

is pushed by torsion'springs 9 mounted on said rod 7. Y l

kEach rod 7 is carried atjits ends'by two arms 1() keyed to the ends of two shafts 11 i and 12. `The shafts lllare supported by bearings 13 fixed on a cross bar eitself secured to the stay of the framework by a collar 16. The shafts 12 are also supported by bearings 17 secured to a bar 18 clamped in a collar 19 integral with the stay 2O of the framework.

yThe shafts 11 and 12 -of each board are one in the extension of theother and so arranged that the Voutermost ridge of the board may be parallel with the plaiting board 3.

One of the shafts l2-is driven by a chain- .Wheel 21 controlled by a chain 22 actuated by -a pinion 28 keyed on the shaft 24 of the roller 1. vThe shaft 1 2 is connected tothewheel 21- by a ratchet device Which'will be furthery described. The pinions 21and 28 have the .same number ofv teeth.

A, tightener 39 can be provided for lthe chain 22. As described in myjaforesaid U; S.Letters Patent No. 1,624,-

060, the distributor frame Y2 is driven by the traction roller l so as to perform one semioscillation atl each complete revolution of the same. The chain-Wheels 21 and 23 having kthe same number of teeth, shaft 12 also performs a complete-revolution at each semioscillation of the distributor frame 2. Y The shaft 12 thusdriven is provided with a gearing 2 5 which drives a second gearing '26 keyed on a shaft 27 supported by a bearing 28'secured to the bar '18 like the bearings 17.

This shaft 27v is provided with a chain-wheel 29 which, by means of the chain 30, drives another chain-wheel 31 keyed on the second shaft 12. The chain-wheels 29 and 31 and the gearings and 26 are equal. The result thereof is that the two shafts 12 rotate at the same speed and in contrary directions as can be` clearly understood from Fig. 3'.

is above mentioned, the chain-wheel 21 is loose on the shaft 12 and is only connected to it a ratchet device. This devicel (Fig. 6) is simply composed of a small ratchetwheel 32 with a single tooth keyed on the shaft 12 and co-operating with a catch 33 pivoted atv 34 on the wheel 21 and pulled back by a spring 35. The wheel 32 having only one tooth, the respective positions of the arm 10 (keyed on the shaft 12) and of the mechanism of the machine (to`which the wheel 21 is connected by the chain 22) always remain the same in the course of work, even if, for reasons stated further on, one has had to rotate the presser-bars by hand l during a stoppage of the machine.

The shaft 27 is provided with a handwheel 36, intended to allow of the rotation of the presser-bar mechanism by hand during the stoppage of the machine. Finally each presser-bar is balanced by counterweights 37 (Figs. 3, i and 5) intended to prevent the bar being involved in rotation by the weight of i' the board 5 and rod 7.

The working is as follows The presser-bars are driven by the chain Y 22 and rotate, with a continuous movement like the traction roller 1. The direction ofV rotation is indicated by the arrows. In this movement, the boards 5 come into contact with the folds of fabric (Figs. 3 and 4) which they draw downwards, whilst rotating round the rods 7 on encountering the springs 9, as can be clearly understood by examining Figs. l and 5 which represent the presser-bars respectively at the moment when the ridges of the boards 5 come into contact with the folded fabric and after a Thel - laid over a shaft 38 forming the hinge of the plaiting board 3.

The presser-bars performing a revolution at each semi-oscillation of the plaiter frame, it is possible so to regulate matters that the boards do not interfere with the fold in the course of formation. Fig. 4 illustrates this C regulation.

When the plaiting is finished the plaiting board 3 should be turned up that is to say the two panels which compose it are brought into a horizontal position in one and the 'il Same plane this being effected by rotation of the shaft 38. It may happen that the 'presserbars 5 hinder this movement. This is remedied by the manipulation of the wheel 36 which enables the presser-bars to be rotated by hand in order to bring them into such a position that they allow the panels of the board 3 to pass freely.` The free wheel 21 enables `thisoperation to be effected without having at the same time to drive the whole machine, whichwould be too laborious for the operator. This device having one tooth, when the machine is set going, one necessarily recovers the correct adjustment of the presser-bars in relation to thefolding mechanism, as above explained.

The details of construction can'be modified without departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, the driving mechanism of the presser-barsV can vary according to the type of machine to which the invention is to be applied.

IV claim:

1. In a machine for folding or plaiting fabrics,^a presser-device comprising a rotatable frame located in the neighbourhood of.

the end of the folds; means to rotate the same in synchronism with the folding operation; apressing member loosely supported by said frame and adapted to friction on said folds to pull the fabric towards the end of thel fold; and springv means connecting said rotatable frame with said pressing member.

2. In a machine for folding or plaiting fabrics, a presser-device comprising a rotatable frame located in the neighbourhood of the end of the folds; a one-way clutch .adapted to drive said frame while permitting its free hand-rotation when the machine is stopped; means to rotate said clutch in Syncronism with the folding operation; a pressing member loosely supported by said frame and adapted tofriction on said folds toV pull the fabric towards the end of the fold; and spring means connecting said rotatable framev with said pressing member.`

3. In a machine for folding. or plaiting fabrics, a presser-device comprising a rotatable fra-me located in the neighbourhood of the end ofthe folds; a ratchet device adapted to drive. said frame while permitting itsfree hand-rotation when the machine is stopped, said ratchet device having only, one tooth and one pawl; means to rotate said ratchet device in synchronism with the folding operation; a pressing member loosely supported by said frame and adapted to friction on ,said folds to pull the fabric towards the end ofthe fold; and spring means connecting laid rotatable frame with said pressing mem- 4. In a machine for folding or plaiting fabrics, a presser-device comprising a rotatable frame located in the neighbourhood of the end of the folds; meansto rotate the same in synchronism with the folding operation a pressing board pivotably supported by said frame, its axis of rotation being parallel with the axis of said frame; spring means tending to rotate said board with respect to said frame in the same direction as the rotation of said frame itself; and fingers fixed to said frame and adapted to stop said board against the action of said spring means, in a direction substantially radial with respect to the axis of said frame.

5. In a presser-device as claimed in claim 4, counterweighting means adapted to the rotatable frame to balance the same.

6. A presser-device as claimed in claim 4,*

wherein the means to rotate the rotatable frame embody a one-way clutch permitting the free hand-rotation of said frame when the machine is stopped.

7. A presser-dev1ce as claimed in lclaim4,v wherein the means to rotate the rotatable frame embody a ratchet device comprising only one tooth and one pawl.

8. In a machine for folding or plaiting fabrics, wherein the fabric is folded on both sides of a vertical panel, an arrangement to flatten the folds on both sides, comprising two presser-devices adapted lto pull the fabric towards the end of the folds; means to connect said devices together; andmeans to drive one of them in synchronism with the folding4 opi.

eration. Y

9. In a machine for folding or plaitingy fabrics a device exterior of the fold adapted to exert regular friction on the fabric to pull the same towards the enel of the fold whereby the fold is flattened and any air entrapped in the fold expelled, said device being driven in synchronism with the folding operation.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature. 

